Universal healthcare belongs in a democracy

I am breaking with Christian conservatism in my support of the Democratic Party and healthcare for the upcoming election. Many of you will get to the “Christian conservatism” part of my statement and be ready for an argument. Well, I can’t help my convictions, they’re a huge part of me, but I hope with democratic social policy that I will be able to help people that can’t get what they need on their own. Mainly this relates to healthcare. I am convinced that without a one payor universal healthcare system in the United States that many women will continue to go untreated for breast cancer and there will continue to be needless deaths from the disease.

I am incensed by right wing conservatives who continue to extol the present system of healthcare and ramble on and on about how the government can’t run healthcare. Although, I agree with both sentiments; the healthcare system in the United States is a good one – if you can get access and afford it, and the government can’t run healthcare, (that is why it needs to remain privatized), the difference is that the government becomes the healthcare insurance carrier and we all benefit from our already exorbitant taxes going to something for all of us. I just think they are ill informed at best. I am most perturbed with the intention to manipulate the issue with terms like “socialism” and “government control.” In a democracy where the government is by the people for the people, it surprises me that there is a continued indulgence in skepticism of that elected government. The fact that all citizens have a franchise in the government through the voting system should be a huge facet in being able to participate in government control. The real argument needs to focus on the inadequacy of the system to include everyone and the practice of perverse amounts of money being used to lobby the government on behalf of the healthcare industry. It is that practice that we should hold up to further investigation and skepticism.

For those who have great insurance coverage provided by your employer I am happy for you. But in Michigan where most of the workers had great insurance coverage through the big three automakers, we have learned that you can’t count on it lasting forever. I end my argument by stating once again that in countries where there is universal healthcare, the people are healthier and live longer – and that is a fact!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathy-Ellen Kups, RN

Kathy-Ellen is a Registered Nurse living in Michigan. In 2003, Kathy-Ellen was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She was cancer-free from April 2004 until December of 2013 when it was discovered that...read more